GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #88

Here’s GARPA, our fortnightly bundle of pre-ordering goodness! ~

Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain (GMT Games)p500 $65, MSRP $95

It got funded in a few days, so it is going to press. The latest entry into the COIN series keeps giving us counterinsurgency warfare from off the beaten path – no Malaysia or Sri Lanka here. This entry brings in a greater level of economics, and boffo-keen (though ahistorical) castle meeples. Scots and Saxons are among the factions that vie for power and veterans of the COIN system already know how to play. Liberty or Death sold out in a hurry, and that’s after all the p500 orders were delivered. Get this now, or miss out and be the laughingstock of the forums when you look for sympathy.

There’s been plenty of alt-history WWII games out there, from the Cthululians invading Normandy to astral gates in a Nazi castle, never mind all-things-Indiana-Jones. But it’s been a while since we got a good alt-history WWI game. Weird War I brings the horror of the “weird” universe Savage Worlds settings to World War I and continues the adventures of the Twilight Legion in the War to End All Wars. You get minis-ready battle maps, a player’s guide, ready-to-run adventures, and well… magic! Head over the top to their campaign site and check it out.

Lets face it, cool metal coins are one of the most useless game accessories out there. But hot damn are the awesome when you have them. They really don’t add any functionality to the game, but the ambience can be incredible. The original series from Drawlab sold out most lines, so they started a new one with new designs – Vikings, Romans, and a cyberpunk line, as well as a generic “units” that would work for 7 Wonders, or Catan, or pretty much anything else. Different pledge levels will get you different numbers of coins, and can also get you a ‘collector set’ that gets you just 1 of each, but gets you every coin in the release. Flip over to their Kickstarter page and check them out.

Siege of Verdan (Jesters Hand)$15k of $18k, ends 17 March 2016

Verdan is a medieval land with a succession problem. How are you going to solve it? A mixture of card-driven play with concealed units and solo-friendly play keeps everyone involved. It looks nice and it’s planned to be a limited release (or maybe that’s just a marketing ploy). Stomp over to Kickstarter and check out the page, with videos to show you what you’re getting into.